Jobs in Conservation: Lectureship in Conservation at University College London

The UCL Institute of Archaeology is recognised as one of the leading academic departments of Archaeology not just in the UK but globally. The Institute has an established position as a world leading heritage conservation training institution. Our post graduate programmes investigate cultural heritage through the conservation of heritage objects and structures.

We are seeking to appoint a talented individual at Lecturer level from 1 September 2013, to work with existing colleagues in contributing to and developing research and teaching in conservation.

The person appointed will be expected to make a significant contribution to the MA in Principles of Conservation, the MSc in Conservation for Archaeology and Museums and other Institute programmes, including academic and practical teaching, supervising dissertations, tutoring internships and organising fieldwork. It is expected that the person will enthusiastically participate in the Institute’s Heritage Studies Section, contributing to strategic developments across the activities of the Section.

Key Requirements

The successful candidate will have a passion for conservation teaching and research, outstanding achievements for their career stage, a PhD in conservation or a closely related subject, and a strong track-record of publication in the field of conservation. They will also have an enthusiastic attitude towards collaborative teamwork.

Please note that the successful candidate will be appointed to a grade on the basis of skills and experience. Appointment at grade 8 will be dependent on experience and outstanding research and teaching achievements.

For further details and for instructions on how to apply please click here

If you have any queries regarding the vacancy or the application process please contact Louisa Goldsmith

JCMS: Imaging Techniques in Conservation by Emma Marie Payne

Another great article on JCMS! Here Emma Payne explores the potential uses of new imaging techniques within conservation.


Here is part of the abstract, for your delight!

"Study of such implications is crucial because employment of these imaging techniques is increasingly common and becoming irreplaceable. For example, polynomial texture mapping (PTM) has revealed previously undetectable surface features; this makes it necessary to continue to use the technique to monitor object condition. 3D laser scanning and certain applications of CT scanning are also examined. The findings indicate that the techniques present some advantages over standard digital photography. The 3D models produced by laser and CT scanning, and the high-resolution texture maps created with PTM enable changes in surface features to be tracked and recorded. PTM is found to be particularly useful and affordable. A more established role within conservation, especially for condition assessments, would be worthwhile. Use of the imaging techniques to create digital and physical models for exhibitions can also be advantageous. However, such models must be used to enhance understanding of original objects, not to reduce accessibility to them."

Read the whole article here

JCMS: Architectural Conservation of an Amun Temple in Sudan - by Tracey Sweek, Julie R Anderson, Satoko Tanimoto

Take a look at 'Architectural Conservation of an Amun Temple in Sudan', a new article published by the Journal of Conservation and Museum Studies. 

T Sweek at work in Dangeil, image from JCMS

The article, written by Tracey Sweek, Julie R Anderson and Satoko Tanimoto (all from the British Museum), discusses the  excavation and conservation of a 2000 year old Amun Temple at Dangeil in Sudan. Dangeil is located to the south of the 5th Nile cataract in Sudan. In 2008, a preliminary visit was organised to intiate a conservation programme and trials to the architectural fabric of the temple, various other excavation seasons followed. 


The materials used in the temple's construction include mud brick, fired brick, lime plaster and sandstone - real challenges for conservators. Sweek discusses some of these challenges and the responses she found considering the restricted resources available. 

Click here to read the article.

CONSTRUCTING CLOTHING: EXPLORING THE MAKING OF DRESS

At the Safra Lecture Theatre
09/02/2013 (10:00-18:00)
For further information contact chsevents@kcl.ac.uk

This Applied Arts workshop explores the interconnectedness of the production of clothing and the construction of self. The morning session focuses on approaches to making paying particular attention to its social functions. In the afternoon the papers focus on production in its historical context, examining the technical evidence as it survives from the Classical to Medieval periods. The aim of the day is to bring together a diverse audience to think about how the dress functions in terms of practical, functional and cultural elements. We are what we make and we are what we wear.

Programme
10.00 - 10.30 Registration, with tea and coffee
10.30 - 10.40 Introduction
Constructing clothing: approaches to making
10.40 - 11.20 Margarita Gleba (University College London), ‘You are what you wear: exploring evidence for Scythian dress’.
11.20 - 12.00 Ben Cartwright (University of Cambridge), ‘Making the cloth that binds us: the role of textile production in producing a sense of home’.
12.00 - 12.40 Myriem Naji (University College London), ‘Working at the loom, working on the self: gender and weaving in the Sirwa, Morocco’.
12.40 - 13.40 Lunch
The making of dress: from the Classical to Medieval periods
13.40 - 14.10 Myriem Naji’s film of the Sirwa Weavers of Morocco making the akhnif.
14.10 - 14.50 Hero Granger-Taylor, ‘Weaving clothes to shape in Classical antiquity’.
14.50 - 15.30 Ursula Rothe (The Open University), ‘Roman provincial dress: making and meaning’.
15.30 - 16.00 Tea and coffee
16.00 - 16.40 Frances Pritchard (University of Manchester), ‘Styling dress in Viking-age Dublin’.
16.40 - 17.20 Gale Owen-Crocker (University of Manchester), ‘Digging out medieval dress: the importance and limitations of archaeological evidence’.
17.20 - 17.45 Questions and conclusions
The registration fee for this workshop is £5. Please book via the King's e-store
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/chs/eventrecords/constructing-clothing.aspx

Project on communicating conservation UCL-IoA 2012-13

This was the last of a series of posters designed by students from ARCLG141 (2012-13),  one of the core courses of the MA in Principles of Conservation at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London.

Each poster explored a specific conservation issue and tailored it to the targeted audience. The posters were accompanied by a paper where the same issues were explored in more depth. Unfortunately you will only have access to the posters!  But watch this space and you will certainly know more about the amazing work these conservation students are doing!
You can see all the posters in this blog by scrolling the page down or on our UCL page

You can leave comments here or on our FB page

Issues in conservation: reversibility, neutrality and objectivity, by V Ford

Conservation theory is pervaded by the notions of reversibility, neutrality and objectivity. This poster re-examines the terms, questioning their usefulness and attainability in modern conservation practice. The aim is to increase awareness and understanding about their implications and to encourage conservators to think beyond individual terms when making treatment decisions as well as in their interactions with others.

Photos taken with kind permission from Magdalen College, Oxford.

Target Audience

Primary audience: Conservation professionals. Secondary audience: Museum professionals. Context: International or national academic conference.

Survival through reign of two suns, by Y L Wu

This poster introduces the Taoyuan Martyrs Shrine first built as a Shinto shrine in 1938 while Taiwan was a colony of Japan, and later transformed in to a Chinese Martyrs Shrine after the second world war.(The Administrative Committee of Taoyuan County Confucius Temple & Taoyuan Shrine 2009). The different stages and events that took place on the shrine reflects how socio-political and economical factors could influence its conservation process, with some comparison to the shrine in Taichung.

Target Audience

The poster is aimed for the visitors of the shrine, with possible interest to cultural heritage, in hope of inspiring them to think about the history of this heritage, how it came to its recent state, what were the influences behind the process.

Caring for sacred ruins, by W Q

This poster presents an over-intervention case—Leifeng Pagoda reconstruction in order to demonstrate the context of religious heritage conservation and comparatively lowly status of professional conservator group in devising and implementing religious heritage conservation approaches in China. Also the poster explores values of religious heritage in three groups(conservator group, religious community and local authorities) in China and highlights the importance of mutual consultation in conservation decision-making. 

Target Audience

Conservators, Religious community and the Chinese authorities for cultural heritage.

The Conservation of Oral History and the Public

The conservation of oral history brings conservation into the community, allowing ‘everyday people’ the chance to conserve, control and aid how they wish history, and they, will be remembered. The necessity for the conservation of oral history is paramount because unlike physical objects that may be able to be brought back if left untouched or as an untapped resource for knowledge, oral histories are forever gone and unrecoverable after the death of their ‘owner.’

Target Audience:
All members of the community and/or public with both an interest in oral history and those who might not know anything about it.

Controlling the past, owning the future, by S S F

The expansion of necessary developments have a direct impact on cultural recourses. Iran is an ideologically driven country currently undergoing development.  The state now called Iran is currently covering a land enriched with variety of historical and archeological values. Any kind of development projects should primarily take this into an account to avoid destruction and disturbance of these nonrenewable sites. Yet there are different kinds of motivations for the authorities, when it comes to dealing with cultural heritage site. Lets see under what conditions cultural heritage sites are carefully preserved and why in some cases they are being neglected and almost deliberately destroyed.

Target Audience: Cultural heritage managers, conservators and archaeologists.